


But They Press Through the Mess

by MakeSomethingUp



Series: Café con Revolution [5]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda, In the Heights - Miranda
Genre: Basically if the 'its complicated' fb status was a whole conversation, Crossover, Denial of Feelings, Established Alex/Eliza, Hamilton/In The Heights crossover AU, Multi, implied John Laurens/Usnavi, the Alexander/John/Lafayette is complicated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-23
Updated: 2016-01-23
Packaged: 2018-05-15 18:54:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5795947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MakeSomethingUp/pseuds/MakeSomethingUp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Let's splice <b>Hamilton</b> with <b>In The Heights!</b></p><p> </p><p>  <em>Alexander is a very attractive person. As is Lafayette.</em><br/><em>John Laurens knows this, he can admit to this. And he can admit to sometimes dirty dancing with them or making out with them or staring at them across the room with heart-eyes...</em><br/><em>But he would never cross the line and jeopardise their friendship, their work, Alexander's marriage.</em><br/><em>Besides, he's actually here today to tell them both about this dude called Usnavi.</em></p><p> </p><p>[can definitely be read as a filler chapter for <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/5712415/chapters/13160143">Flip the Lights and Start My Day</a> FYI]</p>
            </blockquote>





	But They Press Through the Mess

Lafayette and Alexander were huddled close on one side of the messy table. A veritable ocean of legal documents and council letters and half-used sheets of note paper stretched out between them and John. John sat watching from the opposite side, his biro still poised mid-air. His face was blank and unreadable as he tracked the movement of Lafayette’s agile fingers along the paper Alexander held in his left hand before they leaned in further to trace lines on the paper he held in his right. Their accent gave an unintentionally sensual edge to their hushed murmurs.

“So... you would ‘ave to make it clear from ze start... Ah, ‘ere, you see? They never state it outright so it is... oui, I would say manageable.”

John cocked his head, studying the pair with a perplexity he couldn't keep hidden. He liked it when Alexander wore his glasses. He shouldn't be thinking that. He shouldn't be trying to convince himself his coworker was attractive. Alexander was attractive, there was no question about it. Both he and Lafayette were genetically blessed, anyone could agree. What John had to avoid at all costs was trying to convince himself that Alexander was, on top of being objectively nice to look at, John’s _type_.

John could live with- and, most importantly, still work with- the fact that Alexander had big, beautiful eyes. That Lafayette had a wonderful button-nose. That the both of them had soft, glowing skin covering every inch of their wonderful bodies. Those were all facts, and John could admit to them readily and with ease. But as soon as he started thinking about how sexy Lafayette was when they got really riled up about some latest injustice? As soon as he caught himself questioning whether Alexander just happened to feed (brilliantly) in to his glasses kink or if he had actually established his glasses kink in the first place? That was dodgy ground, John was walking. It was the kind of thinking that got a man in trouble at end of year parties. The kind of thinking that encouraged just leaping across that line in the sand and declaring feelings for your coworkers.

That wasn’t how their trio functioned.

All three of them were aware of the tension that came and left their dynamic. All three of them seemed to have silently agreed to do absolutely nothing to address it. There was that time that Alexander had made ceaseless mistletoe jokes at John last Christmas until John had finally yanked him close by his ironic sweater and shoved his tongue down his throat. There was also that time that Lafayette had taken them all out dancing after the close of a particularly trying case, and Alexander and John had wound up flanking them on the dance floor, the three of them grinding in to each other to some particularly raunchy Missy Elliott track.

Then there were all the times they were made to fall in love with each other during their actual work. Over and over again, each of them fell for the others.  
Alexander; bursting through the door, eyes red and hair dishevelled and looking generally like a hot mess, claiming to have been up all night in pursuit of a solution to [insert worthy cause that John and Lafayette cared for deeply here] and exclaiming in a voice thick with emotion that he’d at last found a way to get good people the justice they deserved.  
Lafayette; quietly considering every word of a panel discussion from their unassuming spot in the corner of the room and then rising majestically and, with throaty vowel sounds and rolled r’s, tearing shreds off of every bigoted speaker and their backwards beliefs.  
Even John had his swoon-worthy moments, he would admit. He could tell he was capturing Lafayette and Alexander’s hearts anew every time he was the one to take the first step out on to the cold street at a rally. Every time he was the one to cry out the first angry line of a chant. Every time he was the one to push between his fellow protestors and the cops, squaring them up and glaring them down and completely unafraid of whatever it was they might threaten him with if he didn’t back down, calm down, sit down.

John, Lafayette and Alexander had all followed their hearts in to this line of work. It was predictable, really, that their hearts would lead them to each other. Still, there was a line. There was loving someone and there was flirting with someone and there was occasionally getting to first or even second base with someone on special occasions... And then there was a line. John liked it on this side of the line. He liked that they could all openly cherish and appreciate and bestow strange amounts of physical affection on each other. He liked how, on this side of the line, none of those things got in the way of the work. None of those things got awkward. None of those things ever warranted texts that just said “we need to talk.”

He also liked that Alexander had a very wonderful, very doting wife at the same time. It meant that maybe he could have a boyfriend.

“So,” John interrupted the all-business mumbles across the table. “I think I met someone?”  
He didn’t mean for it to come out so unsure, and he immediately wished it hadn’t when both his colleagues paused to look over at him, waiting. Alexander was staring at him unwaveringly over the top of his reading glasses and now offered him a little nod in encouragement.

“Yeah, well, there’s this really nice guy down at the bodega-”

“Ooh, where you get our coffee?” Alexander chimed in excitably.

“Un moment, s’il vous plait- ‘e gets you coffee? John, why do you not get me coffee?”

“No, this is really early, before you ever get here. I’m talking like, only my second coffee of the day sorta thing-”

“Alexander, it would not ‘urt anyone to go and get me coffee once I was ‘ere, no?”

“If you wanna join our early morning coffee club, you’re just gonna have to-”

John cleared his throat loudly above the ruckus of what he could only describe as some suit-and-tie edition of a lover’s quarrel. Alexander and Lafayette both stopped abruptly and turned back to him with eager expressions.

“Oui, mon cher, apologies, John.”  
There was a beat of silence while John considered them both before opening his mouth to speak again.

“His name is Usnavi. I think I’m gonna ask him out.” John gave a twitchy shrug but his tone was strong and determined. Alexander and Lafayette both seemed pleasantly surprised by the announcement, and met John with smiles from their side of the table. John put down his hovering pen at last and Lafayette reached over to cover his hand with their own. Alexander suddenly scrunched his nose up and pulled a completely over-the-top confused face.

“Wait, _that_ guy?” He asked brashly. “John, does he even swing that way?”

John dropped his head and chuckled lightly. “Honestly, I have no idea which way he swings, but we did share a very pleasant kiss just the other day.”

Alexander’s expression changed just as quickly in to one of almost sarcastic nonchalance. “Oh, shit, never mind. Knock ‘em dead, tiger,” he raised his hands defensively and slumped back in to his chair. John shot him and exasperated half-grin, patting Lafayette’s hand before they pulled it away.

“We are, _of course_ ,” Lafayette looked sternly at Alexander for a moment, “very ‘appy for you, John. But, tell me, you seem nervous to say this to us..?” Alexander pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes, agreeing with Lafayette’s sentiment.

“Hm, that’s true. Why are you asking us permission to date a guy, John?”

A bemused laugh echoed through Alexander’s small kitchen, preceding Eliza as she swept through the doorway towards them, a bowl of hummus in hand. She set it down in the middle of the table, paying no mind to any of the papers scattered across it, and leant down to peck the side of her husband’s head cheerfully.

“He’s asking your permission, dearest, because that’s the polite thing to do when your boyfriend gets a boyfriend,” she glanced knowingly at John before bestowing another kiss on Alexander’s temple. “And John is a very polite man.” And with that, she floated back out of the room.

Alexander and Lafayette looked at John and John looked at his hands. He blushed, but he was still grinning like an idiot. “Love you, Eliza!” He called out to the next room.

“Uh huh!” came the casual response.

“Love you!” Lafayette and Alexander followed suit, in harmony.

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't a super strong ending but this fic went 400 words over so ^_^''''
> 
> If you like where this is headed and you're yet to read Flick the Lights... Go read it.  
> If you've now read both this AND Flick the Lights... Good job, Bob.
> 
> The French doesn't need translating, I'm sure (??)
> 
> And so, the Café con Revolution-verse rolls steadily onwards and the Johnsnavi starts to take over :S


End file.
